A Nigerian court fined a former governor of the southwestern state of Edo 3.5 million naira (17,345 pounds) for corruption which he intends paying as an alternative to serving six months in jail.
Lucky Igbinedion, who was charged in January with embezzling 2.9 billion naira, pleaded guilty to one count of corruption in a plea bargain at a Federal High Court in the southeastern city of Enugu on Thursday, officials said.
Igbinedion will also refund about 500 million and forfeit three properties, including one in the capital Abuja, presiding Judge A. Abdu-Kafarati said.
The sentence angered the anti-graft Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which critics had often accused of lacking the will to prosecute former leaders. The agency said it would appeal against the ruling.
“We are quarrelling (with) the option of a fine. Such options would not serve as deterrent to others who might want to commit such crimes,” EFCC spokesman Femi Babafemi said.
President Umaru Yar’Adua came to power about 18 months ago pledging zero tolerance for corruption in one of the world’s most tainted countries, but faces questions from critics over his commitment to the campaign.
Igbinedion, who was governor in Edo from 1999-2007, is the second governor from the previous administration to be convicted on corruption and money laundering charges since Yar’Adua took power in the world’s eighth largest oil exporter.
OTHER GOVERNORS
A former governor of the oil-producing state of Bayelsa, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, was sentenced to two years in prison in July 2007 in a plea bargain, but spent only a few months in jail as he had been in detention since December 2005.
Alamieyeseigha was arrested with almost 1 million pounds in cash in his London home in 2005. He was charged by British authorities with money laundering but skipped bail and returned to Nigeria where state governors have immunity from prosecution. They lose immunity once they leave office.
Nine other ex-governors who served under former president Olusegun Obasanjo are facing corruption charges, but there has been no significant progress in the cases against them as they have dragged from one adjournment to another.
Nigeria’s 36 state governors have discretionary powers over millions of dollars of public funds and sometimes behaved like feudal monarchs in their states, doling out cash and perks to political supporters and persecuting opponents.
Many top government officials in Africa’s top oil producer looted public funds with impunity and the appearance of some former leaders in court makes front-page headlines in a country where they were long seen as above the law.